Method of and machine for making containers



June 2, 1936. G. E. WEST 2,942,975

'METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING CONTAINERS Filed 'Ja-n. 2, 1952 ZZ-Jl Z510v 9 -l7 f17/ A,517 ,ZZ 2 la 9 eogeEJl/slv www z' K @bro-1M m Patented June 2, 1936 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFicE METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR MAKING CONTAINERS This invention aims to provide a novel machine for making a container, and to supply a novel process for making the container.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter des-cribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing:-

Fig. l shows, in vertical longitudinal section, a device constructed in accordance with the invention, the parts showing as they will appear when the process of making the container is about to be begun;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section, showing the core with the partially completed container therein;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the grip;

Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section of the closure for the core;

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section of the core, with the partially completed container therein;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the completed container.

The article produced in the machine, and by the process, hereinafter described, is a container of any desired kind, shown at I in Fig. 7, and for convenience disclosed as a tumbler, made of a cellulose acetate compound, the constituent ingredients of which are suchthat it will neither burst into flame, nor explode when flame or a high degreev of heat is applied to it, it being necessary to exercise considerable care in order to get the container to burn at all. A slight draft of air will extinguish the burning container, and it melts, rather than burns. In the respects stated, and in others, the container differs from one made of Celluloid. The container is odorless and tasteless, and it tends to contract as it cools.

The container I embodies a bottom 2 and a Wall 3, and it is to be understood that, although the container is shown in the form of a tumbler,

about a horizontal axis, and this means may be 10' of any desired kind. As shown, but not of necessity, the rotor 4 is turned on a horizontal axis, by means of a horizontal shaft 6, secured to thel closed end of the body 5.

If a tumbler is to be made, the inner part of 15 the cavity of the body 5 may be tapered, as shown at l, and this construction may be resorted to, regardless of the shape of the article which is to be manufactured. The outer portion of the cavity of the body 5 is cylindrical, as shown at 8.

The numeral 9 marks a hollow core, including a tapered part I0 and a cylindrical part I I. The tapered part I9 of the core 9 fits closely in the tapered part 1 of the cavity in the body 5 of the rotor, and the cylindrical part II of the core 9 is 25;

received in the cylindrical part 8 of the cavity of the body 5. The external diameter of the cylindrical part I I of the core 9 is somewhat less than the diameter of the cylindrical part 8 of the cavity in the body 5, to leave room for cer 30l tain fastening devices, hereinafter described in detail, but designated sulllciently, for this point in the description, by the numeral 22. At the inner end of the cylindrical part I I of the core 9, a shoulder I2 is formed. 35;,

A closure disk I4 fits against the open end of the core 9. In the inner surface of the closure disk I4, there is a recess I5. The closure disk I4 is provided with a central opening I6, communicating with the recess I5. There are notches I'I 40 in the edge of the closure disk I4.

They closure disk I4 may be held on the end of the hollow core 9 in any desired Way. If preferred, recourse may be had to a resilient, metal', U-shaped grip I8, which is shown in Fig.4. The 45 grip I8 comprises a hub I9 having a hole 20 so located as to register with the opening I6 of the closure disk I4. The hub I9 has opposite extensions 2l, provided with arms 22, arranged at right angles to the extensions, the arms 22 ter- 50 minating in inwardly extended lingers 23. The parts I9 and 2| extend across the outer surface of the closure disk I4, the arms 22 are located in the notches I'l of the closure disk I4, and they extend along the outside of the cylindrical 55 part I I of the core 9, the iingers 23 being engaged with the shoulder I2. In this manner, the closure disk I4 is held on the end of the core 9.

When the core 9 is mounted in place in the body 5 of the rotor, the core is held in the body by resilient clamps 24, in the form of strips, eX- tended longitudinally of the body 5 on the outside thereof, the clamps having fingers 25 which engage the closed end of the body 5, and the clamps having fingers 26 which bear on the parts 2| of the grip I8, both the core 9 and the disk I4 being secured in the position shown in Fig. l. The clamps 24 extend through the notches I1 in the edges of the disk I4.

A suction pipe 21 extends through the hole 2D of the grip I8 and through the opening I6 of the closure disk I4, into the hollow core 9. 'Ihe diameter of the suction pipe 21 is considerably less than the diameter of the hole 20 and the opening I6, and, therefore, there is an air inlet in the disk I4, about the suction pipe 21.

In practical operation, the core 9 is taken out of the body 5, and the closure disk I4 is removed from the core. The core 9 then is set up vertically, with its open end uppermost, like a cup. A quantity of the liquid that forms the container I is placed in the vertically disposed core 9. Enough of the liquid, marked by the numeral 28 is used, so as to just form the article as disclosed in Fig. 6. 'Ihe closure cap or disk I4 is secured to the core 9, by means of the grip I8, and the core 9 is turned from its vertical position, into a horizontal position, the core being inserted into the body 5, and the parts being held together, as in Fig. 1, by the clamps 24. The suction pipe 21 is inserted through the openings I6 and 20, and the device is ready for use.

By means of the shaft 6, the rotor 4 is turned slowly about a horizontal axis, say at about three and one-half revolutions a minute. Each time that the rotor 4 makes a revolution, a thin film of the liquid 28 is deposited on the side wall of the core 9, and the liquid iinds its way, also, across the closed inner end of the core 9. Gradually, the speed of rotation is increased to about fty turns per minute, but the rotation, at no time, should be fast enough to cause the accumulating film to loop back on itself and form air bubbles. The suction through the pipe 21 draws out the volatile constituents of the mixture, air being drawn into the core 9, through the openings I6 and 20. The volatile matter drawn out is largely of a solvent nature, and the drying and the hardening of the article is promoted by the operation of the suction pipe 21.

At the proper time, which may be ascertained readily by experiment, the suction in the pipe 21 is stopped, and the rotation of the shaft 6 is stopped.V The pipe 21 is withdrawn, the clamps 24 are taken off, the core 9 is removed from the body 5, the grip I8 is detached, the closure disk I4 is taken off, and the core 9, with the contained article 29, appears as shown in Fig. 6. Owing to the presence ofthe recess I5 in the closure disk I4, the article 29 has, at one end, a slight projection 30, shown in Fig. 6. This projection 30 may be cut off along the end 3| (Fig. 6) of the core 9, and the completed article, as shown in Fig. 7, may be slipped out of the core 9.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:-

l. A method of forming a container out of liquid, which comprises partially closing the open end of a horizontal, cup-like core, to retain the liquid at a predetermined height in the core, and to leave an axial opening in the partially closed end of the core, above the liquid, rotating tile core at such speed that the liquid will coat the inside of the core including the partially closed end thereof, without filming across and closing the opening, admitting air through the opening, and simultaneously conducting away, through the opening, from an intake point remote from the opening, the vapors created by the evaporation of the liquid.

2. In a machine for forming containers out of liquid, a rotor comprising a body, a horizontal, hollow, removable, cup-like core inserted into the body, the core comprising a side wall having a closed end and an open end, the core being so shaped internally as to contain the liquid and give the desired form to the container, a detachable closure for the open end of the core, means engaging the closure and the body for holding the closure on the core, the closure having a central opening, the closure retaining the liquid in the core at a depth no greater than the distance between the opening and the lower portion of the side wall, the core being so shaped internally that the completed container can be re- L moved when the closure is detached from the body, a suction pipe extended through the opening and prolonged within the core, the opening being of greater diameter than the pipe, to form an air inlet in the closure, about the pipe, and

to facilitate the removal of the closure, and means for supporting the rotor and the body for rotation about a horizontal axis.

GEORGE E. WEST. 

